Meanwhile, two of Farrenkopf’s sisters have offered to give blood samples to try to identify the decomposed body, but haven’t done so yet, said Bernardino Pacris, the county doctor of record on the death investigation.

The investigation has stalled because there’s not much to go on, Pacris explained. He said he believes investigators may never know whether the woman died due to homicide, suicide or natural causes.

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“I don’t have any organs to examine, the body is highly decomposed,” said Pacris, adding that he and other forensic pathologists on the case are still looking for dental records on Farrenkopf, but can proceed with DNA samples that would take months to return.

No visuals remain, he has said. Fingerprints cannot be taken, and there is no muscle left on the body — even the skin has become parchment-like. However, the possibility of new evidence turning up at any time has Pacris remaining hopeful, he said.

Although investigators believe the body is Pia Farrenkopf, who would now be 49 years old, until it is properly identified, it remains classified at the Medical Examiner’s Office as Unknown Woman 14-02, said Administrator Bob Gerds.

Since then, officials have discovered that the situation went unnoticed for so long because several areas of Farrenkopf’s life were taken care of, either by neighbors or automatically through a $54,000 bank account. She also traveled often and didn’t keep regular contact with her family, many of whom live on the East Coast, investigators said.